With Victor Martinez and John Buck off the market, the Red Sox are turning their attention to "a number of catching contingencies" including free agent Rod Barajas, reports FOXSports.com's Jon Paul Morosi. Barajas would presumably share time with, or be a veteran backup for, Jarrod Saltalamacchia in Boston.
Barajas hit .240/.284/.447 in 339 plate appearances with the Mets and Dodgers in 2010, including a .939 OPS with Los Angeles after he was claimed on waivers in late August. The 35-year-old gained some AL East experience playing in Toronto in 2008-09 and is known for a strong throwing arm behind the plate. Barajas has thrown out 32% of baserunners trying to steal on him over his 12-year career, though as Morosi pointed out, that percentage dipped to 15% last season.
Boston tried to acquire Barajas from the Mets in July to fill in for their many injured catchers. Barajas' solid power numbers should earn him a bigger contract than the $500K guaranteed deal he signed with New York last February, though he would still be a relatively cheap pickup for the Sox.
Anymore former blue jays?
I want Downs and Frasor…also want Wheeler from Rays. Hope Sox move Papelbon and sign all three.
Plus if/when the Sox sign Werth or Crawford, Jays get hosed on the picks.
I don’t think getting a supplementary round pick and a 2nd or 3rd rounder for Jason Frasor can be considered “hosed”
I would say it’s getting hosed considering they should receive a first round pick for Downs.
not really, because chances are Jason Frasor wouldn’t get a contract offer from another team if the team had to give up a first round pick.
So either way, the Jays will not be getting a first rounder for Frasor
I don’t think getting a supplementary round pick and a 2nd or 3rd rounder for Jason Frasor can be considered “hosed”
For Taylor Teagarden? C’mon.
Taylor Teagarden doesn’t play for Boston, asshat.
Isn’t Taylor Teagarden in Texas? Salty in Boston, right?
Mistakes happen, they’re understandable. That said, that is an epic screwup.
what is?
It originally said Taylor Teagarden instead of Saltalamacchia.
I wish the Sox got Teagarden…….
yeah it is salty thats in boston currently not teagarden or max ramierez or any other ranger catcher
that just won’t be good enough for boston fans.
I think Boston’s happy they have Jarrod Saltalamacchia instead of Teagarden, but I could be wrong.
Sox have Salty not teagarden
way to be on top of things jdat.
I’d pass on Barajas
Wow we lose vmart an they wanna replace him with this bum.? That’s the one thing I hate bout Theo, is that he’s for the draft picks and prospects. We want to win now and we r NOT the small market teams. Ifsox don’t trade/sign a big name guy it’s sad.
What else are we going to do? Try to trade for Joe Mauer? Come on man. Understand that there is really no one else to get other than MAYBE Miguel Olivo.
I know that he was suspended and will be out the first couple of weeks of the 2011 season, but I wonder if it’d make sense for the Red Sox to call the Marlins about Ronny Paulino. He’s mashed LHP throughout his career, has good pull power, and has a far superior throwing arm to Varitek. Paulino’s also under team control (arby eligible) for two more years, and would probably be cheaper than Tek.
I don’t think a Paulino/Salty platoon would be any less productive than Varitek/Salty. Couldn’t possibly take much to acquire now that Florida also has John Buck.
I would rather have V-Tek back on a 1 year deal as a “bridge” to Lavarnway, who raked in AA (OPS just under .900) this year and held his own in the AFL (OPS just under .800). According to soxprospects.com Lavarnway should be ready by 2012.
I think Olivo would be a better choice.
Olivo is a far superlative choice because his legs and arm are fresh and he has decent power. His BA is less than Barajas, but can hit decently down at the bottom of the order. Theo is shopping at Walmart here. He doesn’t have to shop at Saks Fifth Avenue to suit me, but at least shop at Macy’s.
Olivo is a far superlative choice because his legs and arm are fresh and he has decent power. His BA is less than Barajas, but can hit decently down at the bottom of the order. Theo is shopping at Walmart here. He doesn’t have to shop at Saks Fifth Avenue to suit me, but at least shop at Macy’s.
Ouch, losing Martinez really hurts, and definitely weakens the Red Sox.
Also, the sky is blue and the grass is green.
But what about bluegrass?
Everything was just fine on this board until you had to inject a banjo, scratchboard and spoons. Damnit.
But what about bluegrass?
I think this could start the curse of the Martini
________________________________
Sounds like an OK plan…I am intrigued
Someone pinch me! I’m loving the idea of 2 poor players at an important position for Boston, especially with that disaster of a 70 million dollar pitching staff.
Disaster of a pitching staff? Go troll somewhere else.
di have to remind you of Lackey and beckett … lol
Because one year is really indicative of there true talent right? No rational person can say that they expected the year that those two had or expect that they will have similar years next year, particularly Beckett.
i expected better out of Beckett. Can’t say the same for Lackey, didn’t think he would adapt well to Fenway.
Fair enough, and that’s why I put the “particularly Beckett” at the end there, because it wouldn’t be completely unreasonable to predict a similar year out of Lackey next year. My point is the same though, having a staff of Lester, Buchholz, Beckett, Lackey, and Dice-K(Doubront/Wakefield) doesn’t exactly qualify as a “disaster” in my book.
Lackey had a strong second half, I’m sure it’s safe to say he came around.
havin a 4.00 era in the second might be better but it’s not strong.
you can’t really expect better the a 4.00 era someone who’s making 83 million in 5 years, kinda un fair to even expect as much
havin a 4.00 era in the second might be better but it’s not strong.
I did about Lackey, not Beckett, but i have hated the Lackey signing ever since it was first reported, it was almost as if Theo was jealous the NY yankees had a burden in Aj Burnett and wanted to compete with his horrible contract.
I don’t know how much you subscribe to sabermetrics, but for what it’s worth the Red Sox had the highest total WAR for starting pitchers in all of MLB, tied with the Rockies at 18.9 (source: fangraphs.com/teams.aspx?pos=all&stats=sta�…)
The Red Sox didn’t succeed in 2010 for a lot of reasons, but the starting pitching staff was hardly one of them.
That being said, Barajas kinda stinks and I’ll take my chances with some rookies and/or unproven talent over him. Take Varitek back if there’s a lack of “veteran presence”.
yeah, the disaster of a pitching staff that had a guy go 3rd and 6th in cy young voting..dumbass
Two very good pitchers and three below average starters does not a good staff make. Their collective performance does not even justify a third of what they are being paid, therefore it is a disaster for at least the next 4 years they are stuck with these financial burdens.
And one pitcher who had an uncharacteristically bad season (which no one expects him to repeat) and another who won 14 games as your #4 starter does not a “disaster” make.
i thought really hard about some clever joke about this, but i drew a blank. barajas just sucks. have fun with this one red sox
as much as i have seen Rod Barajas play he is swinging for the fences type of player ( Many Jays are) .. so yeah there are times when you are banging your head against the wall … but also 19-20 hr witha good defense and good veteran present is ok for me ..
i liked how he worked with our young starters when they first arrived so yeah he is ok
but not good for red sox standards ….. maybe you can look at Yanks catcher situation .. even more dire … Jorge Posada was worse then Matinez was behind the plate and his every mount visit annoyed the hell outta me …. they don’t have any good catchers either ( montero is in no way a catcher) .. maybe they’ll go in with Posada and Cervelli ..lol
Why the hell don’t they just keep Varitek?? Barajas is mediocre.
Varitek is old. And not very good, anymore.
Tek posted .276/.593/.868 as a RHB vs LHP in 2010. The guy can still hit lefties in a platoon situation. This works well with Salty, since he hits right-handers better as a LHB.
29 PA is nowhere near enough to make a judgement on, and you can’t expect him to put up his career numbers at this age.
29 PA is nowhere near enough to make a judgement on, and you can’t expect him to put up his career numbers at this age.
exactly, just think about how much Tek could teach Salty about handling a rotation
This just keeps getting better and better Theo.
This says barajas had a strong arm. wtf? i dont remember seeing that arm when he was with the Dodgers.
It also says he only threw out 15% of base stealers last year so it can’t be all that great
If youre going to go for a defensive catcher then you may as well get Gerald Laird who is one of the best on the market.
However the guy they should get is Miguel Olivo. Very solid behind the plate, he has thrown out 35% of base stealers over his career and threw out 42% 2 out of the last 3 years.
He is ok with the bat, still better than Barajas. He wont walk a lot, just 125 walks in over 3000 plate appearances. But he’ll hit about .250 or so with 15-20 HRs especially playing in Fenway. And he knows how to get himself on the field. His last few stops he was the 2nd option behind a younger catcher with more upside (COL-Iannetta, KC-John Buck) and he still ended up as the primary catcher.
Itll probably take a 2 yr deal to get him but shouldnt be too expensive.
However it could be interesting if the Yankees realize that Montero is not a catcher and Cervelli cant hit much, they may check in on Olivo as well since he was Girardis starting catcher for a couple of years down in Florida.
Does it really matter that he can throw out runners when he is also terrible at blocking balls in the dirt? I’m pretty sure he normally lets a lot of passed balls by per year.
Yeah he does have a little bit of an issue with passed balls but when you look at the Red Sox staff they dont have a lot of guys who throw power sinkers or anything like that outside of Papelbon and to a lesser extent Lackey. They are mostly power 4 seam guys with Beckett, Buchholz, and Lester.
Plus whatever he allows in passed balls he will more than make up for with his offense and throwing out base stealers.
Yeah he does have a little bit of an issue with passed balls but when you look at the Red Sox staff they dont have a lot of guys who throw power sinkers or anything like that outside of Papelbon and to a lesser extent Lackey. They are mostly power 4 seam guys with Beckett, Buchholz, and Lester.
Plus whatever he allows in passed balls he will more than make up for with his offense and throwing out base stealers.
Does it really matter that he can throw out runners when he is also terrible at blocking balls in the dirt? I’m pretty sure he normally lets a lot of passed balls by per year.
trade for napoli or sign a guy like bengie molina.
i was waiting for omeone to bring up bengie. hes an above average catcher for the last couple years, and will most likely come on a one year deal.
And is built like a sumo wrestler.
That would be the slowest catching combo out there 😛
I love that the Red Sox are downgrading. This article is blowing up how good Barajas is. LOL
I really think ,at this point,they might be hoping one of their catching prospects steps up in spring.
They don’t really have a guy who could though. Exposito isn’t that good and probably won’t be ready until 2012 at the earliest. I see the guy as a career backup. Lavarnway would be great if he could play the position, which is very much in question. Like I said in another post, Russell Martin should be on this team. He can be had for next to nothing right now, but I hope he gets nontendered. His power has really decreased the last few years, but they don’t need power out of their catcher.
Now that Victor is in Detroit, If Theo is intent on Salty starting/sharing catching duties, then the ONLY smart move is to bring tek back. Theres nobody better to teach the staff to Salty…Barajas?? WTF!!! NO!! just….NO!!
Maybe this is just a ploy to get Tek for 1 year at cheap money. Can’t imagine he wants to up and move every year until he retires in the next couple of years.
My thoughts exactly. Theo isn’t dumb.
My thoughts exactly. Theo isn’t dumb.
Man i try to support Theo….and then i see crap like this! Barajas is a bum! I love the sox but man Theo gets under my skin sometimes!
How you get mad at Theo when he hasn’t even done anything yet? Barajas isn’t a Theo guy anyway, no OBP at all.
I really doubt Theo is intrested at all. Probably just a ploy. He’s jot a dumb guy. Before i panic I’m going to wait for the rest of the off season to play out. If it looks like it sucked, then i’ll panic.
I really doubt Theo is intrested at all. Probably just a ploy. He’s jot a dumb guy. Before i panic I’m going to wait for the rest of the off season to play out. If it looks like it sucked, then i’ll panic.
man with the way the sox are going so far and the loss of crawford from Tampa the jays could be serious contenders for second in the east and have a shot at getting the wild card. the AL is gonna be fun this year with ten teams that could potentially made a strong push for the playoffs with the addition of one or two players still left on the market.
The AL East is getting so strong that they are going to knock each other off next year. I think thats why they are going to add another wild card in 2012. Next year the wild card could come from the west and the runner up in the East will lose out.
I’ll start by saying I don’t want any of the free agents. The Sox need to make a trade or re-sign Varitek.I wonder if the Sox could get Montero if they paid half of Papelbons salary, Saltalamacchia and mid to low-A prospect? Probably not.I really like David Ross. His slash line over the past two years is very nice. He only got 150 at bats the past two seasons so maybe the Sox could pry the guy from Atl.
Are you talking about Jesus or Miguel Montero? It doesn’t really matter because you’re “Probably not” assessment is actually an understatement for either guy.
And as for Ross, I’m pretty sure that Atlanta locked him up this past season and values him greatly as their backup C.
Are you talking about Jesus or Miguel Montero? It doesn’t really matter because you’re “Probably not” assessment is actually an understatement for either guy.
And as for Ross, I’m pretty sure that Atlanta locked him up this past season and values him greatly as their backup C.
Catchers are a dime a dozen. Barajas is what Boston needs…a defensive catcher. He won’t give you much by the way of average but he can hit 15-20 HR. and he will get what $2 mil tops? Boston isn’t going into this season without replacing offense. If I were Theo and I could sign Crawford for 6 years I would do it…..then I could feel comfortable moving Ellsbury in an Upton deal.
I think an OF of Drew, Upton and CC would be way better, esp since Drew is on a contract year.
I think an OF of Drew, Upton and CC would be way better, esp since Drew is on a contract year.
Can you really consider a guy a defensive catcher if he only throws out 15% of base stealers? Doesn’t Tek throw out more than that?
“the Red Sox are turning their attention to “a number of catching contingencies””
you guys all know that this is absolutely meaningless right?
It just means that are kicking the tires on all the options,if this is even true.
Contingencies are backup plans. Such as if Varitek retires.
i know what it means,thanks.
“a number of catching contingencies” would imply that he isn’t even their top choice.
I think that he’s rake at Fenway.. and if he isn’t played a lot then he shouldn’t hurt too much. For the money and power potential I think there are worse options.
I think that he’s rake at Fenway.. and if he isn’t played a lot then he shouldn’t hurt too much. For the money and power potential I think there are worse options.
lol strong first half, then don’t hit ever again. Did I mention the .284 OBP?
lol strong first half, then don’t hit ever again. Did I mention the .284 OBP?
The Sox missed the boat by not signing Martinez or Buck; I don’t think their replacements will be an upgrade.
Buck isn’t good and got overpaid…
The Sox missed the boat by not signing Martinez or Buck; I don’t think their replacements will be an upgrade.
Redsox need to get either Miguel Olivo/A.J Pierseinski, Carl Crawford, Adrian Beltre, Scott Downs
or
Jose Reyes, Jayson Werth, Miguel Olivo, Scott Downs
Aaron Cibia for Ellsbury!
The only 3 catching options I think are the best for the red sox are russell Martin, mike Napoli, or salty. Napoli would probably bring us the best offense, Martin would probably bring us the best defense. Or we could try to trade for Taylor Teagarden, or max Ramirez of Texas.
Wouldn’t the Red Sox trading for Napoli just seem odd, since Napoli is a poor mans version of V-Mart?
yeah but seeing as he isnt valued to the Angels, he could be had for a decent swap, the Angels like Mathis so if they matched up it could be a good trade, only thing is i dont think the Angels like the players on the Sox farm, they couldnt even come close to a trade when the Sox made a waiver claim, and i doubt it could happen at the winter meetings, I dunno, maybe they are still bitter at Manny admiring his home run in ’07.
Forget all of these guys, bring in that Lavarnway guy, he looked awesome, i hope he at least gets an invite to spring training, i am more excited to see this guy than Casey Kelley who was supposed to of been in the AFL game but hmmm wasnt.
I saw Lavarnway in the AFL and I can tell you he is no Martinez. Thats like comparing Ryan Kalish to Yaz.
Lavarnway may not be Martinez but he could be a good replacement for him and much, much cheaper not to mention they have other potentials coming in the next year or two so his point that they could have been more willing to let him go because of the possible replacements in the minors is justified.
Out of all people why Barajas? Low avg. low obp, with some pop? Is it for the defensive prowess? Why not just have Tek behind the plate then? There are other solid catching options available out there such as AJ or Olivo, this must be another bargain basement signing that Theo hopes will finally pan out. Come on Theo, as a Yankees fan, I know that this kind of signing and the others usually never pan out. *ahem* Nick Johnson.
maybe it was just my imagination but weren’t the Red Sox trying to acquire Ryan Doumit from the Pirates at the trade deadline? Are they still in on that or are they not thinking he can catch/they got turned off on him when the Pirates turned him into an outfielder?
maybe it was just my imagination but weren’t the Red Sox trying to acquire Ryan Doumit from the Pirates at the trade deadline? Are they still in on that or are they not thinking he can catch/they got turned off on him when the Pirates turned him into an outfielder?